Hamas transferred the bodies of four Israeli hostages to the Red Cross in the Gaza Strip on Thursday.
At the handover site, the Palestinian militant group staged a public display, drawing a large crowd of cheering onlookers and dozens of masked, uniformed militants.
Four black coffins were placed on a stage, set against a backdrop portraying Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a bloodied vampire hovering over images of the four deceased hostages. A caption beside the images read: “The war criminal Netanyahu and his army killed them with rockets from Zionist fighter jets.”
An Israeli television presenter described the scene as a “theatre of terror.”
Hamas stated that the deceased include a mother and her two young sons: Shiri Bibas and her children, Ariel and Kfir.
Israel plans to verify the identities of the bodies upon their return.
This is the first time the remains of Israeli hostages have been handed over since the Gaza war began, following the Hamas-led massacre on October 7, 2023.
Previously, the Israeli military recovered several hostage bodies from Gaza and repatriated them.
Hamas claims that the three members of the Bibas family were killed in Israeli airstrikes during the early months of the conflict.